Lance Armstrong confirmed today that he will ride for Astanta in both the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia for 2009, possibly in a support role. "I'm committed to riding for the best guy," said Armstrong.
Some friends and I were talking about this (literally talking in the real world, not online believe it or not) a couple of weeks ago: What if Armstrong rides as a domestique? Road cycling is not a one man show: Armstrong's seven Tour de France wins happened because of excellent teamwork, and I think it would look fantastic if Armstrong gave back and helped somebody else capture the podium.
What do you think of the prospect of a leadout train or breakaway led by Armstrong?
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I would love to see Lance ride as a domestique. What a tremendous display of class and modesty that would be!
ReplyDeleteSame here, I think it would be a truly inspiring cap to an already inspiring career.
ReplyDeleteI could see the Tour play out much like the Vuelta did last year, with Contador's key domestique coming dangerously close to knocking him off the top step. I'm sure LA will pace Contador up the climbs, and even two years removed from racing, I'm sure he's a better chrono racer than Contador will ever be.
ReplyDeletebrian, The thing about having a domestique sitting so high in the gc is that it makes a team very hard to defend against. They can pretty much always have someone in the break that their opponents can't afford to let go. If Lance starts jumping into every other breakaway, Contador is going to get to Ventoux with some very fresh legs.
ReplyDelete...i would love to see lance pick up a good win or two in the spring, finish the giro in the maglia rosa & then ride strongly but humbly in support of his team-mate contador in the tour...
ReplyDelete...of course if contador falters...
We can all agree that it would be great to see LA eat some humble pie in the Tour to Contatdor's benefit. However, who really believes he'll do it? LA has demonstrated throughout his career his unrelenting desire to destroy everyone, all the time, at the Tour.
ReplyDeleteWhy would 2009 be different?
Just to be clear, I would love to see him win the Giro and ride for Contador in the Tour - but come on people, really?
Dont you think his ego will keep that from happening?
Can you imagine a super-domestique battle between Lance and someone like Jens Voigt? Hay-zoos Marimba, that'd be fantastic.
ReplyDelete